


Somebody Wonderful Married Me

by aintweproudriff



Series: Race, Spot, Albert, and Elmer [17]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Changing POV, F/F, Honeymoon, M/M, Mostly pure fluff, Multi, Pregnancy, Vows and cuteness, the wedding fic tm, wedding ring shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 03:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13628142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintweproudriff/pseuds/aintweproudriff
Summary: Spralmer gets married, and the whole process is a little bit of a mess. But what else would they have expected?Updates on Saturdays





	1. Elmer's POV

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elmerspape](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elmerspape/gifts).



> me??? making their wedding date my birthday and also the day that this fic is going to end??? yes bc im both self obsessed and a planner
> 
> (dedicated to elmerspape, because you deserve everything)
> 
> here's the link to the rings they decide on: https://www.google.com/shopping/product/9799366418863312905?q=steel+wedding+ring+ruby&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI2vC5l5rZAhUK9IMKHRDJAKYQ20sIFg

Elmer had practically been born planning his own wedding. For as long as he could remember, he’d been thinking about it.  
At first, it had been an image of him standing at an altar, surrounded by red and silver decorations, watching a faceless girl walk down the aisle in a big Cinderella style dress. She was always faceless. He didn’t want to give her a face or a name quite yet, because he truly didn’t know what she’d be like.  
It was only when, in a dream one night, he was walking down the aisle to meet a man at the altar did he accept what he’d suspected for a long time. There was no faceless girl, and there wouldn’t be one: ever.  
For a while after that realization, he had thought he might want to wear a dress. Even then, at what may have been the most impressionable time in his life, he’d understood that dressing a certain way didn’t mean one thing or another. If there was something he was proud of, it was the way he acted as a kid. But the idea of wearing a dress went away as he got older and less interested in the whole who-wears-the-pants train of thought, and much more interested in the person he was going to marry.  
It was Alex, for a whole eleven days. In freshman year, after five days of dating the boy who was going to be his best friend, Elmer was positive that they would end up getting married. When they broke up, it was mutual enough that Elmer didn’t feel like he’d lost Alex, and he certainly hadn’t given up his dreams of a wedding.  
His crush on Spot had come next. He wasn’t too ashamed to talk about how he’d envisioned his wedding to Spot. And he wasn’t too ashamed to talk about how he’d planned a wedding with Race, and then Albert afterwards. A good thing, too, that he didn’t see how it was embarrassing; his boyfriends - fiancees - loved to tease him about it. 

-

“What’s our color scheme gonna be, El?” Race asked, one night when the four of them were only a little drunk in their apartment. 

“Red and silver. Or pink and white, if we wanna be a little softer.” Apparently he answered too fast, because they laughed loudly at him. 

“It is a spring wedding,” Albert mused, his bottom lip pressed to the mouth of his beer bottle. “Softer might be better.”

-

The date had been set, almost as soon as they’d gotten engaged that night at Jack’s house. Saturday, March 10. Nicely placed in the middle of spring; not too warm, not too cold, not too harsh, not too soft. They’d sent out the invitations as soon as they had booked the hall and chosen the colors, which would be red, pink, and white. Almost all of their friends would be able to make it, and their family too. RSVPs were still rolling in by the time they went ring shopping, and Elmer smiled at each one they got. 

-

Rings had been one of those things that Elmer had pictured for a long time, but each time was different. In that way, rings were kind of like the venue they’d have it in and the cake. Because of this, Elmer had made the mistake of telling his fiancees that he didn’t care what style of ring they got, so long as it matched. That ended up not being as true as any of them originally thought. 

-

“El, what do you think of this?” Spot asked, peering into a glass case full of dainty, white, plastic hands. On each finger of each hand was a different ring. “This hand here, the pinky finger.”

The one he was pointing out was black, with a red stripe around the middle. 

“Isn’t that too, like, big and clunky?” Albert asked, leaning on Spot’s other shoulder. 

“Yeah,” Elmer agreed. “I feel like it’s too, ugh. I don’t want to say it’s too masculine but I think it’s just too, I don’t know, aggressive? Do you like it, though, Spot?”

“Yeah, kinda,” Spot shrugged, making Albert’s arm, which was resting on his shoulder, raise up and down. “But it’s like we said, right? Matching’s the most important part. So if you guys aren’t fans, we can scratch that.”

Elmer often had to take moments to pause and remember how much he loved each of these boys. It was when any of them said something like that: considerate and focused on making sure that the four of them were one unit, that Elmer was absolutely, 100% sure of his decision to marry them. 

“I like the red, though,” Race put his arm around Elmer’s shoulders. “It’s nice. Goes with the color scheme.”

“I like the red too,” Elmer agreed, tilting his head up slightly to meet Race’s eyes. “Very us.”

Albert was already gone, browsing through rings again. “How about something like this?” he called them over to see a rack of hands, all wearing gold rings. “They’ve got the red, and they’re not too masculine or aggressive, right?”

And no, they weren’t. In fact they were almost-

“A little too dainty,” Spot spoke what Elmer was thinking. “I’m not sure we’re in the men’s section anymore.”

Elmer nudged his side, but smiled all the same. Spot knew better than to make generalizations like that, and that was what made his bad joke funny. He didn’t mean it, and more than that, if his fiancees had wanted a ring like that, he would have worn it proudly. 

“Yeah,” Race agreed, his face thoughtful. “It’s nice, but I’m not sure it’s right for us, y’know?”

“I think so too. I like it a lot, but,” Elmer looked around, “if I’m honest, I can’t picture Spot wearing it and liking it.”

“I-” Spot started to protest. He always started to protest. “You’re right. It’s not for me.”

As Elmer walked away and began to browse the other rings, he couldn’t help but worry that they weren’t going to find what they wanted. With four people, it’d be incredibly difficult to find one ring that worked for all four of them. Maybe matching wouldn’t actually be the most important. Maybe-

“Y’all have been here awhile,” a sweet voice broke his train of thought. “Do you need some help?” The girl behind the counter smiled at him. 

“Uh,” Elmer paused, caught off guard. “Yeah, that’d be good.”

“Great! Do you know what you’re looking for?” she asked, her long dark hair that was straying from her ponytail, falling in her face. She pushed it back absentmindedly.

“Well, that’s kinda our problem,” Elmer explained. “We just don’t. We’ve all got very different personalities, and styles, and-”

The girl smiled at him. She must have seen something like this before. “What have you found that all four of you like?”

“I think we all liked the red accents,” Elmer tilted his head to the side and waved over his boys. “And we definitely don’t want something too clunky, but we also don’t want something too delicate.”

Nervously, the other three arrived at his side. “That’s right, right?” he asked them. “We all like the red, and we want something in between masculine and feminine?”

They made it obvious that they were in agreement, and the store girl frowned. 

“So how would y’all feel about something more simplistic, then?” she asked, wrinkles appearing on her forehead. 

“That’d be perfect,” Spot said, and Race and Albert nodded along with him. 

“Alrighty, that’s progress then,” her face lit up. Elmer wondered if she was usually this cheery, or if there was something about this relationship in particular that made her so helpful. “For metals, we’ve got silver, gold, titanium, sterling steel, and a couple of other ones. Did you find one you liked?”

Albert spoke up. “I liked the steel. It looks like the silver - I don’t know enough to tell - and it’s a lot cheaper.”

“I think that sounds good.”

“Me too.”

Elmer nodded along. Just like the sales lady, he was happy they were finally getting somewhere. 

“Alright, gimme a second, boys,” she said, “and I’ll see what I can find. Four rings is a little unheard of, if I’m honest. So it might be limited selection.”

“That’s fine,” Elmer assured her as she walked into the back of the store. “We’re picky, but we appreciate whatever you can find.”

As if by magic, she walked out from the storage space carrying a plastic hand. “Four identical sterling silver and ruby wedding rings,” she said with a huge smile on her face. “What do y’all think of these?”

They were flat and matte on the outward facing side, curved in so that they looked rounded when placed on a finger, and shiny on the inside. On the top side of each of them was a tiny, round, red gem. 

Elmer couldn’t speak. He had not expected something like this. 

“Well,” Race laughed, surprised. “Are those perfect or what?”

“Pretty perfect, honestly,” Spot sighed. “How much?”

The sales lady sighed. “They’re supposed to retail for about ninety dollars each.”

Elmer’s eyes closed slowly, disappointedly, as he turned to Spot. Their budget had been fifty dollars for each ring: most of their wedding budget had already been spent booking the hall for all their friends and family. 

“But, um,” she bit the side of her tongue. “I think I could cut the price down to forty-five for each ring. You’d be paying full price for two rings, which would be what we’d expect to get from any other couple.”

Race was about to open his mouth to point out that the shop would still be losing a hundred and eighty dollars. Elmer stopped him before he could do something stupid. 

“That would be so kind of you,” he smiled at her. “That helps a lot.”

“Of course,” she smiled back, reaching underneath the cash register to pull out four tiny black boxes. “Let’s hope it’ll be karma for when I propose to my girls.”

Elmer grinned. So the discount was gay/lesbian solidarity. He could roll with that. “When are you planning on doing it?”

“Soon, I hope,” she said, punching in the identification numbers for the rings and adding a fifty percent discount to each of them. “They deserve it.”

Elmer looked behind him and smiled at his fiancees. 

“I’ve felt the same way.”

“It’s nice, ain’t it?”she put the rings in a bag. “That’ll be a hundred and seventy-nine dollars,” she told him. Elmer handed over his credit card, and after she charged it, she put the red velvet pouch that held the rings and boxes in an innocuous looking brown bag. He took it. 

“Thank you so much,” he rested it by his side. “You really saved our wedding budget with these. And they’re so beautiful, too.”

“Of course,” she smiled, and turned away for a second. “Have a good wedding!” she called after them as they left the store. 

“We will, thank you!” Race replied with a wave. “Good luck with your girls!”

Her laugh was audible, even as the door to the jewelry shop closed. 

And then they found themselves on the sidewalk, next to a busy street. 

“Home?” Elmer asked. 

“Yeah, home,” Albert nodded, taking Elmer’s free hand. “We’ve got flowers to choose.”


	2. Race's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> race is,,, a dumbass. i love him so much.
> 
> @elmerspape thank you so much for making the wedding invitation it's beautiful. it would be my lock screen but i don't want to deal with people asking questions about it. go look at her tumblr yall she's the best @justcourageandfreedom
> 
> SECOND AUTHOR'S NOTE A WEEK LATER: After talking to @heck_the_peck, I realized that Les would not be 12 in this fic, he would be 20. Which is not okay at all, because Les will forever be 10 (almost) in my head. But I decided that everyone still calls him 'the kid' for a long time, and calls him 12 years old because -at least until the babies started arriving- Les was the baby of the group.

Race hoped that this would be good enough. He assumed it would be; at this point, he figured that anything he did for his fiancees would be good enough. After all, they were marrying him, so he’d done something right before. Maybe he could do it again. His hands shook as he reviewed the plans. Almost everyone he’d ever met was in on this plan, so it was going to have to move seamlessly in order to work. They’d have to be a well-oiled machine. With his friends, that could be difficult. 

They had all met at a park a couple of blocks away from the Race’s apartment. It was a nice day to do something like this, since it was the first sunny day in what seemed like weeks. There was still a little bit of snow on the ground, but it still looked fluffy, and not slushy or icy. The sun made the snow glisten and reflect off the faces of his friends. Ivy toddled around in the grass near her parents. Crutchie took her hand, and she stood next to them happily. He shot off a text to his fiancees, telling them to meet him at the park, before turning to look at them. 

“Alright, so it’s going to go like this,” he told a group of people standing in front of him. “Jack’s gonna hold up a card. Jack’s card tells them to read this all out loud. Then Davey’s gonna flip his card up, then Crutchie’ll flip their card up. Davey’s card says: ‘Hi boys! I hope you’re having a good day.’ Crutchie’s says: ‘You guys said I could plan the honeymoon.’ We’re good so far?”

Jack, Davey, and Crutchie held up their signs. Crutchie and Davey switched signs to make their signs say what they were supposed to, causing Race to roll his eyes. 

“Get it together, guys,” he said. It came out meaner than he intended, but he was under stress, damnit. “Then it’s gonna go to Kath and Sarah. Katherine’s sign just says: ‘So…’ and then Sarah’s has a joke on it. I don’t wanna say the joke, it’s kinda dumb.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Shut up, Sarah.” He smiled at her. 

“Specs, Romeo, can you guys show me your cards?” he asked, and the two of them did as they were asked. “Perfect. Specs’ll put theirs up, then Romeo, and then Buttons and then Jojo?”

The next two people put their signs up. Henry did it too, even though he hadn’t been asked to. 

“Okay, yeah, that’s gonna make Elmer blush a little,” Race said excitedly. “I did a good job with this, huh? It’s cute.”

The three of them looked at their signs and smiled, nodding in agreement. 

Buttons looked over at Henry and Jojo. “Take notes, okay boys? For, y’know, if you ever wanna do something special for me. Or if we get engaged and-”

“We’re not having this discussion now,” Henry raised a single eyebrow, and Buttons smiled. They’d won, even if they hadn’t thoroughly gotten to embarrass their boyfriends. They had only mildly mortified them.. 

“I’ll throw you the bouquet, Buttons, how’s that?” Race teased, taking pleasure in watching as Henry’s face paled. 

He took a few more steps to his right. “Okay, and then it’ll be,” he looked down at his notes, “Smalls, and then Blink, and Mush at the end. Ready, go!”

Smalls held up her sign, and Blink and Mush followed, perfectly timed. 

“Awesome!” Race couldn’t help bouncing up and down to let out some of the excited, anxious energy coursing through him. “And Sniper, you know what you’re doing?”

“Yep!” she called from the back of the group. “Keeping hold of Rosie!”

“Until-”

“Until Mush puts up his sign.”

“Nice, perfect,” he shot her a thumbs up, which she returned, if somewhat awkwardly. “And Les? You know your job, right?”

Les grinned, pointing to the camera on the rolling tripod. “I’m pushing this down the line as they go down it.”

Race nodded. “Yep, you got it. Why I’m letting the twelve year old film it, we’ll never know. But I guess that’s what we’re doing.”

"Race, I'm not twelve. I'm twenty."

"Nope," Race hit his arm gently, not enough to make Les drop the camera. "Still twelve."

“What time are they gonna get here, Race?” Jack asked. 

Race glanced down at his phone. “Shit,” he said, and barely had time to register that he’d just sworn in front of Les. “They said they were close three minutes ago. Let’s get in our places, you guys!”

They ran to line up. Jack, then Davey, then Crutchie and Kath and Sarah. Specs, Romeo, Buttons, Jojo, Henry, Smalls, Blink, and Mush. Race took his place at the end of the line, holding plane tickets behind his back. He looked behind him; Sniper smiled and patted Rosie. Les was the first to spot Albert, Elmer, and Spot. 

“Hey, guys!” Les yelled, waving his arms to get their attention. He turned on the video camera and a small ‘beep’ came out from it as he hit record. “Go see Jack!” he pushed the tripod that held the camera close to them.  
The three looked at each other. Elmer shrugged. Spot stepped forward to face his brother, who was holding his daughter, but managed to hold up his sign. 

“Read everything on the cards out loud,” Spot narrated. “Alright then.”

Davey flipped his card up with a smile. 

“Hi boys!” Elmer read aloud. “I hope your day is going good.”

Les went around the back of the three boys to get a better angle as Crutchie flipped their sign up.

Albert read it, his eyes crinkly. “You guys said I could plan the honeymoon.”

They stepped down the line, and Spot read Kath’s card. “So, dot dot dot.”

“We’re going to McDonalds!” Elmer said, grinning ear to ear at Sarah’s card. “Race,” he said, searching for his fiancee. Upon not finding him, he chose to turn to look at the camera. “You are joking, right?”

Specs held their card up with a smile. “I’m just kidding,” Albert said, sighing when he finished. “Good. I figured you were kidding, but I’m never sure with you.” He also spoke to the camera, and pointed at it for dramatics. 

“Really,” Spot said, studying Romeo’s card, his smile very obvious. “I’m so lucky to get to be marrying you guys.” 

Elmer was blushing. Mission accomplished. “This is all I’ve ever wanted,” he read from Buttons’s card. “And I-”

“It’s my turn, El!” Albert elbowed Elmer. 

“Sorry. Got excited.”

“And I,” Albert read the card that Henry held, “wanted to make this special.”

Smalls held up her sign. Spot read it. “So I think I should tell you where we’re going. I hope you’ll like it.”

“I’m sure we will,” the camera picked up Albert’s whisper, even though Race couldn’t have from where he was standing. 

Blink flipped his sign up, and Elmer said what it said: “We’re going to, dot dot dot.”

Race called Rosie over, and Sniper let her go. The dreadlock wig fell in the dog’s face; luckily she didn’t mind it so much anymore. 

Albert gasped as he read Mush’s sign. “Jamaica!” 

“Oh my god,” Elmer breathes. Spot was too busy greeting Rosie to even notice that Race was giving Elmer and Albert plane tickets. 

“She looks like Bob Marley,” he smiled, and his eyes widened. “Oh. Jamaica. Makes sense.” His grin never faded. Spot picked up his dog and looked at Race, who held out a ticket. 

“It does, doesn’t it?” Race asked Spot, who took his hand. 

“This is cute. The whole - cards and the park and the dog and filming it and the whole setup,” Spot closed his eyes, set the dog down, and then opened his eyes so that they were looking at Race’s eyes with a kind of softness. Race had become accustomed to that look when they had first started dating. He had never anticipated how much stronger the softness could become when they got engaged. “Thank you.”

Race pulled Spot close, resting his head on his shoulder. “You’re welcome. I meant it, that I want you to have the best honeymoon possible. I thought that this would be kinda fun.”

“It will be,” Albert said, leaning his head on Race’s shoulder as Elmer rested his body against Spot’s. “I know it. Thank you, Race.”

“I love you,” Race whispered and leaned over to kiss Elmer’s cheek. “And I wanted to make you happy.”

“You make us happy anyway,” Elmer leaned into the group hug they had going on. “I’m glad we’re not going to McDonald’s, though.”

The camera beeped as Les turned it off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and for all of the kind words you've already given me about this fic. they mean more than you could know!


	3. Katherine’s POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh a POV that’s not one of the spralmer boys how exciting! 
> 
> I don’t know how much I mention her, but Elmer’s sister’s name is Missy and that name is thanks to heck_the_peck, who is a naming genius.

Everything at the wedding rehearsal was, in a word, perfect. If she did say so herself. Katherine had been one of the most instrumental planners of this wedding, and been at almost every meeting of the wedding planning process. She had been placed in charge of flowers and a band, and chosen ones that all four grooms had approved on the first time that she had suggested them. Those were good signs about her organization abilities. Not that she needed the validation: she had practically planned all of her and Sarah’s wedding. But it was a good skill to keep in her back pocket, especially if more of her friends were thinking of getting married. She had heard Buttons talking to their boyfriends about the whole process a few times now, and she knew that those two couldn’t deny Buttons anything. 

Everyone, even Jojo, had gotten to the rehearsal on time. That may or may not have had something to do with the warning texts that she and Sarah had sent out to all members of the wedding party, the majority of the guests, and even Medda. The four grooms had wanted the rehearsal and accompanying dinner to be fun and easy, not quite as stiff as the actual ceremony. She thought it had turned out quite nicely. 

At the rehearsal dinner, Jack, Davey, Crutchie, and Ivy were on the makeshift dance floor that they’d made out of their living room by pushing the couches to the sides. The four of them had been kind enough to open their new home - an actual house - to the wedding party. They had converted the kitchen and dining room into a dining hall, a large table with plates and tacos. There was a seating area with chairs and cushions between the dining area and the living room, and another on the back patio. The grooms wandered around in pairs, greeting friends and family and thanking them for coming. Henry, Jojo, Sarah, Buttons, Specs, and Romeo were in the indoor seating area, and Blink, Mush, Smalls, Medda, Elmer’s mom and sister, Albert’s family, and Sniper were outside. 

Katherine sat down on a beanbag chair, barely squeezing on next to her wife. Noticing that they might want some time together, the other people peeled away. 

“Look at them,” Sarah nodded to her brother, Crutchie, and Jack. “Did we ever imagine this?”

Katherine laughed. “No, I couldn’t have pictured that they’d ever be like this. Those three, all grown up, dancing with their daughter. It’s like another world.”

“All of us are all grown up now, huh?” Sarah leaned her head on Katherine’s shoulder. 

“Yeah, I noticed. So many weddings happening,” she whispered, bringing her hand up around Sarah’s shoulders and touching her hair softly. “So much happening.”

“Yeah,” Sarah looked up. “So much is happening. We’d better be grown up, at this point.” Her hand drifted down to her stomach, and Katherine smiled at the way Sarah glanced down at her hand and cuddled closer to her. “Or else we’ve got a big surprise coming.”

“Are we really gonna talk to them about this tonight?” Katherine asked. “We won’t be taking away their thunder, right?”

“That’s why we’re doing this tonight, not tomorrow,” Sarah laughed, her cheeks red. “So that we don’t steal their wedding day away from them with this.”

“Good point,” Katherine kissed Sarah’s forehead and looked up as Elmer tapped a spoon against a wine glass. 

“Hi guys!” he said to the group that gathered. “Thank you all again for coming, it means a lot to us that you’re all here. It’s about time to have dinner and then I think there might be some speeches from the wedding party, which is all of our best men,” Elmer put air quotes around the word men. “And then we’ll open speeches to anyone else who wants to give one. So come help yourself to some tacos!”

Sarah and Katherine smiled at each other reassuringly and stood up. 

Ivy eventually decided that no, she did not want to sit between David and Crutchie, her “deedee” and “renny,” but she instead wanted to sit between Aunt Kath and Aunt Saz, on the other side of the table. And so they took their places. At one head of the table sat Spot and Albert, and next to each of them on the long sides of the table were their best men: Jack was Spot’s, Jojo was Albert’s. Their significant others sat next to them, and then Mush and Blink and Smalls and Sniper sat across from each other in the middle of the table. Between Crutchie and Smalls sat Alex, Elmer’s best friend from high school who had been invited but showed up late. All three members of Albert’s family sat across from Specs and Romeo and next to Medda, Elmer’s mom, and Elmer’s sister Missy, who was his best “man”. Across from Medda sat Sarah, and then Ivy. Finally, Katherine took her place at Race’s side, as his best man. 

It had been a surprise that Race chose her. They were incredibly close, sure, but she had assumed that he would ask Crutchie or Romeo to do it. She didn’t complain, of course. It was an honor to be asked, just a little bit out of the blue. That was how she had found herself planning the wedding, and thoroughly enjoying the process. 

She and Sarah talked and laughed with the rest of the group, helping Ivy with her food when she needed it, and overall enjoyed the night that was dedicated to their friends. The four of them had come so far to get to this point, through most of high school and all of college, and now they were getting married. It seemed a little surreal.   
Katherine let herself reflect on the day she met them: she had just started dating Sarah, and Race, Spot, and Albert had just started dating Elmer. They were all fresh college students, and Sarah had invited her to her brother’s boyfriend’s party. Three out of the four of them had been blackout drunk, and the one who hadn’t been (she couldn’t remember who it was) was in charge of caring for them. She had only met each of them briefly before they left, but she remembered hoping that she and Sarah would end up being as in love as the four of them were.   
At Katherine and Sarah’s wedding, when they were giving the vows, she had looked into the audience gathered and seen Elmer crying. Later that day, she had made a point of dancing with Elmer and hugging him tightly. The two of them had never been incredibly close, not like she and Race had become, but Katherine loved Elmer deeply, and had known he needed to be told that everything would be alright. And now, everything truly was alright. She smiled softly for a moment, until she heard Race’s voice. 

“Sarah, do you want wine? You haven’t had any yet.”

“Hm?” Sarah asked, and breathed through her mouth before pursing her lips into a tight smile. “Uh, no.”

“Are you not drinking tonight?” Elmer asked, playfully but just as thoughtfully as ever. “Are you going to be designated driver for the rest of us?”

Sarah laughed awkwardly. Katherine felt her legs stiffen to become sticks. 

“Uh, no,” Sarah made a tsking noise with her tongue. “Actually, we’ve kinda got an announcement to make, if that’s okay,” she said, standing up slowly. 

Silence fell over the table like a wave, starting with Race and Elmer and moving its way down to Albert and Spot. 

Sarah smiled and began. “Well, I didn’t want to show up your guys’ wedding or anything, so I figured I’d talk about this tonight instead of tomorrow. But Kath and I have some exciting news to share with you guys-”

Katherine met Davey’s eyes as Sarah paused dramatically. He raised his eyebrows and she nodded. His jaw dropped before Sarah even finished the sentence. 

“I’m pregnant.” 

The silence stayed for a moment, until Jack let out a loud: “Oh my god,” and the entire table exploded into noise. Congratulations came from every seat in the house, and so did laughter and general surprise at the idea of another baby in this family. And then there was the sound of crying. For a second, Katherine expected that it was coming from Elmer. Luckily, it was coming from the sound of the actual child in the room. 

“I-” Ivy gasped out “-I don’t wanna. I don’t wanna have to leave!”

Katherine drew in a quick breath and bent down to look Ivy in the eye. “Honey, why would you have to leave?”

“‘Cause if there’s a new baby, you’re gonna give me aw-way!” 

“What the heck gave you that idea?” Katherine asked her, trying not to laugh when she saw Race laughing. 

Ivy gasped for air loudly, and her face grew confused. “I, uh, dunno.”

Jack had pushed his chair back and made his way over to his sisters-in-law. He nudged Katherine aside to pick up his daughter, and wiped away a tear from her face. “We’re not gonna give you away, sweetheart,” he smiled at her. “Ever. I promise, okay? All this means is that you’re gonna have a new cousin to play with. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Oh,” Ivy said, her breath steadier. “Yeah!”

A quiet noise from behind Katherine caught her attention. 

“Congratulations, you guys,” Elmer said, wiping at his misty eyes. “I’m so happy at all of this, oh my god.”

She smiled and pulled Elmer into a tight hug. 

“So much is changing now, huh?” He asked her. 

“We were just talking about that,” Katherine nodded. “It’ll be okay. It’s all changing for the better, wouldn’t you say?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!


	4. Albert's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAA we're so close to the end that's not going to go over well. I'm already crying as I'm working on the next chapter.

“It’s too hot in this goddamn room,” Albert ran his hands nervously through his hair. “I can’t stop sweating.”

“Really?” Jojo asked from his chair, conveniently placed next to the only open window. “I’m freezing.” His shirt was off, and he sat only in his undershirt and dress pants. His pressed white shirt and red tie were on a clothes hanger, and his black coat laid on the back of another chair. 

“Then move away from the window, idiot,” Albert muttered, putting his face close to the mirror and scrutinizing his skin. 

Jojo stayed where he was. “You don’t really feel hot, do you?”

Albert leaned his head back. “No, I don’t. You’re right, it’s actually freezing in here.”

“Should we close this window?”

“Uh, no, don’t. The air is good. I’ll just suffer,” Albert sighed dramatically, breathing in and out the fresh March breeze. 

“Okay, man,” Jojo grinned at his friend. “Whatever you say. Sucks that we got this room, though.”

The hall where they chose to hold the wedding only had two dressing rooms: one for the bride, one for the groom. 

(“Such a heteronormative wedding hall,” Spot had remarked. 

“Our own wedding is homophobic,” Race had added, a dorky smile on his face. “Who would have guessed?”)

But since there were four of them, they had faced the choice to share or use rooms that had not been intended to be used as dressing rooms. Elmer and Albert vehemently protested the idea of sharing, saying that it would be horribly bad luck to see each other before the wedding started. Race and Spot looked at each other and shrugged, and said that they figured that if the four of them had been together for seven years, there wasn’t going to be much bad luck that could hurt them now. Albert thought that was a sweet sentiment, but he still didn’t want to tempt fate. The bride’s dressing room was bigger, so Spot and Race, along with best “men” Jack and Katherine, had called dibs on that one. Elmer and Missy claimed the groom’s dressing room, and Albert and Jojo had been shoved into a small meeting room with a window on one wall and a mirror on another. 

Albert took a deep breath and turned around to face Jojo. “How do I look?” he asked. His coat, black with a tail, stayed unbuttoned for the time being, so that he could get Jojo’s opinion of the red suspenders (Elmer’s idea), the white tie, and tiny silver cufflinks. 

“Good,” Jojo told him with a smile. “You look really good, man.”

“Really? You don’t think I look like, stupid or -”

“Al. You look great,” Jojo shook his head. “Are you nervous for this?”

Albert made a tutting noise. “Of course I’m fucking nervous. It’s my wedding day. Isn’t everyone nervous on their wedding day?”

Jojo shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Not yet, at least.”

Albert raised his eyebrows. “Are you really gonna propose at some point?”

“I don’t feel the need to, honestly,” Jojo said, the wind pushing his hair around. “Unless Henry wants to as much as Buttons wants to. If Buttons really wants to, they can propose their own damn self. But otherwise, it’s enough that I’ve got them. I don’t need a certificate.”

“There’s not even really a certificate for us,” Albert nodded. He got where Jojo was coming from. “Since they don’t legally recognize polyamorous relationships. It’s all for the show of it.”

Jojo fixed his hair and pulled his chair away from the window, finally. “Exactly. It seems like a lot of work for a party with no real purpose.”

“There’s a purpose!” Albert said, too quickly, too defensively. 

“I know there is!” Jojo said, and thankfully his voice was loud, but not angry. “I mean, I get that it’s got a purpose. You want to tell the whole world that you love each other. That’s an awesome reason to do something. It’s just not for me, the whole wedding thing. And it’s for you guys! That’s great. Not for me. Although, like I said, if Hen and Buttons want it, then we’ll do something,” He took a breath. “Anyway. You said you were nervous? Why?”

Albert sighed. “I don’t even really know. I’m nervous about the actual ceremony, I guess. Like the vows and the rings and what if something goes wrong and it’s my fault or something? I just really want to make sure everything’s perfect. They deserve that much, for sure. I mean, they deserve better than everything being perfect, honestly.”

Albert pretended not to notice the look Jojo gave him, the one that told him he was being sappy, and should tone it down. The look he gave back told Jojo that it was his wedding day, and he had no intention of doing so. 

“And then of course there’s like, the nagging idea in the back of my head that’s telling me that getting married is dumb, that half of all marriages end in divorce, and that a divorce is so much harder to deal with than a breakup. So why would I go through all of this if I’m just going to get divorced?”

“Do you think that you four are going to get divorced?” Jojo asked. “Is something not working out?”

“No! No, of course not. Everything’s good. Everything’s damn near perfect, actually. We’re getting married, we’re starting a family and so are our friends, we’re happy. Elmer still gets anxiety sometimes but it’s not bad anymore. None of us are jealous or feel left out anymore, like we were in high school and college. We’re healthy, all four of us: mentally and physically. We’ve got a home and a dog and everything is - good.” Albert blinked at the realization. “But then, I guess, there’s also the idea of commitment. And that’s so typical, honestly. I don’t feel like the jokes straight guys make about the ‘ball and chain,’ but it’s a little terrifying to know that this is it. The three people I’m going to love for the rest of my life.”

“So you don’t want to go through with the wedding?” Jojo asked. 

Albert gave him an angry look. “That’s not at all what I said. Of course I want to go through with it. It’s just scary,” he said, running his hands through his hair one last time. “I want this day to be perfect, you know? And I want that because I think the three of them are perfect. I mean, Spot does tend to get angry too quickly. And Race does stupid shit without thinking about it. So does Elmer. And none of them like doing dishes or cleaning up after themselves, but they’re perfect. I know I’m not, but I sure as hell can try. And I know that today might not be perfect either, but I can sure as hell try.”

“Did you just solve that whole internal issue in, like,” Jojo looked at his phone, “a total of five minutes?”

“I’m not done,” Albert held his hand out in front of him. “I guess that’s why I was so bent on not seeing any of them before the ceremony. It’s dumb, and traditional. We’re anything but traditional, even if we are a little dumb. But I wasn’t about to let anything go wrong,” he nodded, letting his thoughts spill out of his mouth, “so even if superstitions are dumb, it was something I could control.”

“Oh.”

“You’ve read through the vows, right?” Albert asked, turning around to the mirror to button up his jacket. “Everything looks good?”

“Yeah, everything’s good. Al, that was really, uh, sweet. I think the four of you are gonna-”

A knock sounded on the door. 

“Come in,” Albert called. 

Katherine, Jack, and Missy stepped through the door. Jack was wearing a tuxedo similar to Jojo’s. Katherine and Missy wore short, simple, blush pink dresses. 

“Are we ready to go?” Katherine asked. 

Albert glanced at Jojo, who grinned at him. 

“Yeah, I think we are. Let’s get this going.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Katherine and Missy's dresses: https://weheartit.com/entry/37296926


	5. Spot's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's over. Congratulations to these boys, who really aren't boys anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And happy birthday to me, who will not be a child much longer.   
> And for all of you who said you would cry at the actual wedding, I cried while writing the vows so.

Spot would be the third groom to walk down the aisle. Which meant lots of waiting. Jack stood in front of him for a while, telling him that the officiant was in position at the altar. They had hired the same officiant that had done Jack, Davey, and Crutchie’s wedding, not knowing how many other people would be up for doing the ceremony. 

“Alright. So now Jojo’s going to go walk down the aisle. There he goes,” Jack whispered. “And then Missy. And then it’s my turn. Bye, Spot. I’ll see you up there.”

Jack turned and left, followed by Katherine, who didn’t trip even a little as she walked towards the big doors in her silver heels. 

“Okay, Albert,” he heard Blink say. Blink would be giving cues for the wedding party, helping them to know when to go. 

Spot closed his eyes so he wouldn’t see Albert before they were at the altar. 

“Race, go ahead now,” Blink said. Spot closed his eyes tighter. 

“Spot?” Blink’s hand touched Spot’s shoulder. “You’ve got this, you’re going to be great. You can go on out.”

He took a deep breath, smiled at Blink, and took his first steps towards the doors that led to the wedding hall.   
The aisle itself had been decorated to perfectly match their theme. It was quite literally a red carpet that led to the altar. The din of people clapping for him rang in his ears, and he tried not to let it affect his steps, each one falsely confident and sure. Spot shifted his gaze from the carpet to the people around him. The faces were familiar, but with his heart pounding in his head, he couldn’t really tell who was who. Until he looked up towards the people standing at the front of the room, on a little stage. Jack, and Jojo, and Katherine and Missy were all there, and they looked great and happy and proud to be there, but they weren’t who he cared about. Albert and Race were standing across from each other. Their faces looked as Red as Spot’s felt. But they watched him walk down the aisle, and Race’s face broke into a grin. Albert covered his mouth, but his eyes and his dimple gave it away. Suddenly, all the noise around Spot disappeared, and so did most of the nerves in his head. He smiled back at these boys, and nodded at them as he took his place in front of Albert and across from an empty space. And then he looked down the aisle.   
Elmer walked up it, his face showing all the same emotions that Spot had just gone through. He looked stunned at the decor, overwhelmed by the people and the fact that this was happening, scared about the ceremony, and then he looked up. Spot smiled at him, hoping that it would help him be calm again. Elmer’s face softened, and the corners of his mouth turned up at Spot, who held out a hand to Elmer. He took it and squeezed before dropping it to watch the rest of the procession. 

Spot heard the “awww”s before he realized what was so cute. He just about laughed out loud when he saw his niece walking down the aisle, her pink skirt swishing around her short legs, dropping flower petals as she walked. She held a little white basket in her hand, and when she got to the altar, Jack dropped to his knees. 

“Come here, Ivy,” he said. 

She ran to her dad, who picked her up. Davey stood up from the second row and walked over to his husband to take her off the stage. The whole crowd clapped for her as she waved to everyone. 

And then, the “awww”s came chorusing through the audience again. Spot looked down the aisle again and saw their dog running down the aisle, barreling towards them. Elmer crouched down to receive her, and when she reached him, unclipped the straps that kept a pillow on her back. He took it off and set it, along with the rings tied to it, on the altar. Then Missy called Rosie to her, and took her offstage to Elmer’s mom, who had agreed to keep Rosie through the ceremony. 

And then the officiant started talking. Spot had heard this a million times, at Jack, Davey, and Crutchie’s wedding and at Sarah and Katherine’s wedding. 

“Friends and family,” he said, “we are gathered here today to…”

Spot let himself tune out a little bit. Instead of listening, he watched Elmer’s face. There was a plastic smile spread from cheek to cheek, only barely masking the bursts of fear and then sheer joy that Elmer was going through. Albert, unable to relax fully, was trying to listen to the officiant. Or pretending to try, at least. He smiled, and then looked up, feeling Spot’s eyes on him. They nodded at each other slightly, grinning widely. 

When the officiant had finished welcoming the audience, he began a small speech. “Love as strong as this needs no certificate to show how important it is. These four, and all their friends and family, know that they are as one person already. The purpose of wedding, then, is to make a promise, a commitment to one another, that spans across love. The commitment is to sharing life, with all its struggles and joys with one another. This is the ideal to which married people strive; constant companionship, without fear. This is what these men will promise to each other today. Shall we begin?” He looked around, but not to the audience: just to the grooms and the wedding party, who all nodded confidently. The first confident thing Spot had done all day. He’d been shaking in his dress shoes for hours, but he was sure now. 

Race stepped forward, and Spot stepped back to give the audience a better view of his soon-to-be husband. 

“I, Anthony Higgins, do take you to be my husbands. I do this without doubt or any hesitation, because I love every detail about you. I trust that just like we have grown together in the past, we will grow together in the future, and as we do, I will love you more and more every day. I choose you because you have been, and will always be the best parts of me.”

The officiant nodded at him, and Race stepped back. Then, Albert stepped forward. 

“I, Albert DaSilva, do take you to be my husbands. More importantly, I promise to be your best friend, like I’ve tried my best to be for the past decade. I still can’t believe it’s been so long, you guys,” he smiled, breaking the serious tone. “With you, it feels like ten minutes, not ten years. I promise to talk with you, to laugh with you, to trust you in everything and to appreciate and cherish each of you individually for exactly who you are.”

Albert stepped back: Spot’s cue. He took a deep breath and began.

“I, Sean Conlon, do take you to be my husbands. I promise to bear any and all of the burdens that life may bring, and to share whatever joys you feel as if they were my own. Today and forever, I promise my whole heart to you,” he smiled at each of them, “for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, for the rest of my life.”

His breath shook on the last four words of his vows, but he got through them, and took his step back to let Elmer speak. 

“I, Elmer Kasprzak, do take you to be my husbands. You three are truly the loves of my life, and we are the best little family I could have wished for. I promise to always keep working on love and acceptance with you, and to love you for who you are, knowing that you will do the same for me. I give you my heart, which is all I have, to hold and keep for the rest of all of our lives.” 

The officiant smiled at them all, and then continued. 

“And now that you’ve all said your ‘I do’s, the rings.”

Spot chose the ring closest to Elmer, and leaned over the altar to slip it on his finger. He could feel the sweat on Elmer’s hands, and he tried to smile familiarly at him. Elmer gave a half-assed smile in return, clearly unable to fake the confidence Spot could. That was alright. This was a big deal, and hugely important to Elmer. Elmer picked up Spot’s ring and guided it on to Spot’s ring finger on his left hand. The two of them glanced over at Race and Albert, who had just had a similar silent exchange. 

“I now pronounce you,” the officiant said loudly to the crowd, “husband, husband, husband, and husband. You may kiss the grooms.”

All of his nerves seemed to wash away with those words and, laughing, Spot reached next to him for Albert’s hand. He kissed his husband for what seemed like forever (especially since all his friends and family were watching), until Elmer’s hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away. Elmer kissed him quickly before interrupting Albert and Race’s kiss to steal Albert away. Since Elmer and Albert leaned catty-corner over the altar, Spot had to walk around them to get to Race. Not that he minded, obviously, since this was the end destination of a long, long journey. And similarly, the start to a new one. 

BONUS:

The ceremony ended, and the reception began in an adjacent hall. The soft music from the first dance faded out, and people flooded the dance floor as louder music began to play. It blared in his hears as Spot went the opposite way, swimming upstream on his way to the snack bar. He grabbed a white foam plate, piled it high with all sorts of little sweets, and went to sit down for the first time in hours. Sinking into a red chair at a nearby table, he let himself relax, watching his husbands (husbands!!!) dance together to the upbeat music. 

“Careful Spot,” Jack sat down next to him. “Don’t wanna get too full. Remember that you’ve got other activities tonight,” he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Crutchie and Davey, behind him, rolled their eyes. 

“I hate you. Shut up,” Spot said, taking a big bite of a tiny donut just to spite his brother. “You don’t know what we do.”

David interrupted. “You get married, apparently. Congratulations,” he smiled and patted Spot on the back before going down to sit on Jack’s other side. 

“Thanks, Dave,” Spot grinned at him from across the table, fiddling nervously with the wedding ring. “That means a lot. But it might not be the last wedding, y’know. Not after your little brother caught the bouquet.”

David scoffed. “I don’t think he’ll be getting married anytime soon. He’s much too little.”

“20 isn’t really little,” Spot pointed out. “Where was his plus one for the wedding? Didn’t he have one?”

“Yeah, well,” Davey shrugged. “She ditched him a little bit ago. And then he hooked up with some guy who he’d been crushing on for a long time, who then never called him back. So no plus one. So if I say he’s too little, I mean he’s too immature.”

Jack nodded along with Davey’s story, cringing, like he felt bad for Les. 

“And where’s the little one?” Spot asked, changing the subject. 

“Kath’s got Ivy,” Crutchie smiled, pointing to their sister-in-law and sighing slightly. “She’s so good with her, and she needs the practice now.”

“Wow,” Spot said, nodding. “I guess she does.”

“They’re going to be great moms,” David shook his head, his eyes bright. 

Spot nodded. “They really are.”

“And you’re going to be great dads,” Crutchie leaned across the table and nudged Spot. “I mean, if you decide to go that way.”

Chuckling, Spot blinked in surprise. “It’s kinda looking like it might happen. I can’t imagine adding another person or two to our family, since we’re already so big, but I think we want it. And,” he added, glancing lovingly towards the dance floor, “I’m not saying Elmer’s already trying to get the adoption papers started, but-”

“Spot, what are you doing over here?” Jack said, standing up and walking over so he could pull Spot’s chair out from under him, making him fall flat on his ass. “Go dance with your boys, don’t just think about them. You only have one wedding day.”

He laughed, brushing himself off from the fall, and hugged Jack. “Thanks,” he whispered, and let that speak for itself. Giving a small wave to his siblings-in-law, he ran back onto the dance floor to meet his husbands, who welcomed him in gladly as soon as he stepped near them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! Let me know what you thought with kudos, comments, or come talk to me on tumblr @javidblue or @allbesolucky


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